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When it comes to automobiles, some great ideas have been torpedoed by poor execution. Like the Chevrolet Corvair, one of the most innovative American compact sedans ever built when launched, but doomed by GM’s nickel-and-diming on vital suspension parts. Or the Pontiac Aztek, a seminal crossover vehicle that had canny Japanese product planners crawling all over it, but was rendered sales-proof by retina-searing styling. And what about the Chrysler TC by Maserati? Oh, wait… That was never a great idea.

Jaguar‘s 1968 XJ sedan was a great idea. The low-slung XJ established the template for the modern luxury sedan, combining impressive performance and handling with a plush wood-and-leather-trimmed interior — key characteristics you’ll find to varying degrees in every Mercedes S-Class, BMW 7 Series, Audi A8, and Lexus LS of the past 20 years. Only problem was, by the 1970s, as Jaguar was sucked into the industrial anarchy that was the state-owned British auto industry, the XJ wasn’t so much a car as a loose assembly of car parts that all too frequently parted company.

Jaguar would not be here today without the Ford Motor Company, which bought the British automaker in 1990 for $2.5 billion. Dearborn might have been duped into paying way too much for Jaguar, but over subsequent years Ford instilled the manufacturing discipline and expertise the company desperately needed, at a cost of billions more.

Ford quickly proved it could build Jaguars better. The problem was building a better Jaguar. Ford bosses knew Jaguar was famous for sports cars, but they also wanted it to be the new BMW — without the BMW engineering budget. Instead, they got a faux-retro GT built on the ancient XJS platform. They also got a 5 Series rival built on the heavy, expensive, American DEW98 rear-drive architecture shared with the Lincoln LS and a 3 Series fighter built on the same the front-drive hardware used by the quotidian Ford Mondeo. All three cars — the XK, the S-Type, and the X-Type — were perfect bean-counter Jaguars. But they were far from perfect Jaguars.

The all-new X350 XJ sedan launched in 2003 was perhaps the most frustrating of all the Jaguars created on Ford’s watch. Its innovative all-aluminum bodyshell was light and roomy and helped endow the car with impressive performance and superlative ride and handling. The X350 was everything a modern Jaguar XJ should have been. Except it looked like a supersized version of the 1968 original. Ford had finally built a car that in engineering terms captured the spirit of Jaguar, but bludgeoned us with obvious visual metaphors to make sure we didn’t miss the point. Its essence was Sir William Lyons, but its execution was Rodney Dangerfield.

The 2011 Jaguar XJ is different. This is the most significant, most forward-looking Jaguar sedan in 40 years. Jaguar design chief Ian Callum’s sheetmetal is provocative, but the XJ exudes a rakish elegance that eludes even Audi‘s newly chiseled A8, while retaining a raffish on-road presence that makes the unadventurous new 7 Series and all too familiar S-Class disappear into the traffic. The interior is spectacular — a rich, original combination of form and space, materials and finishes.

The XJ’s chassis is wonderfully fluent; the car flows down the road with the same catlike demeanor as the current XK Coupe and smaller XF. It always feels confidently planted, in touch with the tarmac, yet the ride never becomes harsh, even on the 20-inch wheels and low-profile rubber. The steering has a superbly organic feel; you can place the big Jag very accurately on the road, but it never feels nervous or busy. The new Jaguar XJ is possibly the class of the luxury car class, though I’ll wait until we’ve done a back-to-back comparison with S-Class, 7 Series, and the new A8 before making a definitive call.

I can say this unequivocally, though: The new XJ — ironically a Jaguar pretty much developed before Ford sold the company to India’s Tata Motors in 2008 — is a beautifully executed take on the luxury-car manifesto its storied 1968 ancestor created. Sir William would have approved.